Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) is one of the most famous and gifted of all composers in the entire western world. He was orphaned at the age of ten and basically taught himself music. His professional life as conductor, performer, composer, teacher, and organ consultant began at the age of 19 in the town of Arnstadt and ended in Leipzig, where for the last 27 years of his life he was responsible for all the music in the city's four Lutheran churches. In addition to his being a superb keyboard artist, the genius and bulk of Bach's vocal and instrumental compositions remain overwhelming. Bach was a devout and devoted Lutheran, and is honored in Christendom for his lifelong insistence that his music was written primarily for the liturgical life of the church to glorify God and edify his people.
